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Public Opinion and American Democracy

3-0-9 units. HASS-S · Undergraduate

Introduces students to public opinion in politics and public policymaking. Surveys theories of political psychology and political behavior. Examines empirical research on public understanding of and attitudes towards important issues, including war, economic and social policies, and moral questions.

Spring 2007

This course will examine public opinion and assess its place in the American political system. The course will emphasize both how citizens' thinking about politics is shaped and the role of public opinion in political campaigns, elections, and government.

Readings

  • Asher, Herbert. Polling and the Public: What Every Citizen Should Know . 6th ed. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press, 2004. ISBN: 9781568028330.
    Required
  • Berinsky, Adam. Silent Voices . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005. ISBN: 9780691123783.
    Required
  • Fiorina, Morris. Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America . New York, NY: Longman, 2004. ISBN: 9780321317735.
    Required
  • Stimson, James A. Tides of Consent: How Public Opinion Shapes American Politics . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004. ISBN: 9780521601177.
    Required
  • Zaller, John. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1992. ISBN: 9780521407861.
    Required
  • Key, V.O. Public Opinion and American Democracy . New York, NY: Random House, 1961, pp. 3-18. ISBN: 9780394303222.
    Listed reading
  • Herbst, Susan. Numbered Voices: How Public Opinion Polling Has Shaped American Politics . Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1993, introduction, chapter 3. ISBN: 9780226327426.
    Listed reading
  • Blumer, Herbert. “Public Opinion and Public Opinion Polling.” American Sociological Review 13, no. 5 (1948): 542-549.
    Listed reading
  • Newcomb, Theodore M. “Public Opinion and Public Opinion Polling: Discussion.” American Sociological Review 13, no. 5 (1948): 549-552.
    Listed reading
  • Woodward, Julian. “Public Opinion and Public Opinion Polling: Discussion.” American Sociological Review 13, no. 5 (1948): 552-554.
    Listed reading
  • Converse, Philip E. “Changing Conceptions of Public Opinion in the Political Process.” Public Opinion Quarterly 51 (1987): Supplement 12-24.
    Listed reading
  • WEEK #: 2 · TOPICS: Measuring Public Opinion: Sampling and Collecting Data · READINGS: Asher, Herbert. Polling and the Public: What Every Citizen Should Know . 6th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2004, chapters 4-5. ISBN: 9781568028330.
    Reading assignment
  • Zaller, John, and Stanley Feldman. “A Simple Theory of the Survey Response: Answering Questions versus Revealing Preferences.” American Journal of Political Science 36, no. 3 (1992): 579-616.
    Listed reading
  • Tourangeau, Roger, Lance J. Rips, and Kenneth Rasinski. The Psychology of Survey Response . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2000, chapter 1. ISBN: 9780521572460.
    Listed reading
  • Berinsky, Adam. Silent Voices: Public Opinion and Political Representation in America . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005, introduction, chapter 1. ISBN: 9780691123783.
    Listed reading
  • Delli Carpini, Michael X., and Scott Keeter. What Americans Know About Politics and Why It Matters . New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1997, introduction, chapter 2. ISBN: 9780300072754.
    Listed reading
  • Asher, Herbert. Polling and the Public: What Every Citizen Should Know . 6th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2004, chapter 2. ISBN: 9781568028330.
    Listed reading
  • Berinsky, Adam. Silent Voices: Public Opinion and Political Representation in America . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005, chapter 2. ISBN: 9780691123783.
    Listed reading
  • Zaller, John. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1992, chapters 2, 3, and 6. ISBN: 9780521407861.
    Listed reading
  • Achen, Christopher H. “Mass Political Attitudes and the Survey Response.” American Political Science Review 69 (1975): 1218-1231.
    Listed reading
  • Converse, Philip E. “The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics.” In Ideology and Discontent . Edited by David Apter. New York, NY: Free Press, 1964. ISBN: 9780029007600.
    Listed reading
  • Kinder, Donald R. “Diversity and Complexity in American Public Opinion.” In Political Science: The State of the Discipline. Edited by Ada Finifter. Washington, DC: APSA Press, 1983. ISBN: 9780915654581.
    Listed reading
  • Zaller, John. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1992, chapters 4-5. ISBN: 9780521407861.
    Listed reading
  • Sears, David O., Richard R. Lau, Tom Tyler, and A. M. Allen Jr. “Self-Interest versus Symbolic Politics in Policy Attitudes and Presidential Voting.” American Political Science Review 74 (1980): 670-684.
    Listed reading
  • Green, Donald Philip, and Jonathan A. Cowden. “Who Protests: Self-Interest and White Opposition to Busing.” The Journal of Politics 54 (1992): 471-496.
    Listed reading
  • Cambell, Andrea. “Self-Interest, Social Security, and the Distinctive Participation Patterns of Senior Citizens.” American Political Science Review 96 (2002): 565-574.
    Listed reading
  • Conover, Pamela J. “The Influence of Group Identifications on Political Perception and Evaluation.” The Journal of Politics 46 (1984): 760-784.
    Listed reading
  • Kinder, Donald R., and Lynn M. Sanders. Divided by Color: Racial Politics and Democratic Ideals . Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1996, chapter 5. ISBN: 9780226435749.
    Listed reading
  • Sniderman, Paul M., Thomas Piazza, Philip E. Tetlock, and A. Kendrick. “The New Racism.” American Journal of Political Science 35 (1991): 423-447.
    Listed reading
  • Berinsky, Adam, and Tali Mendelberg. “The Indirect Effects of Discredited Stereotypes: Social and Political Traits in Judgments of Jewish Leaders.” American Journal of Political Science 49, no. 4 (2005): 845-864.
    Listed reading
  • Feldman, Stanley, and John Zaller. “The Political Culture of Ambivalence.” American Journal of Political Science 36 (1992): 268-307.
    Listed reading
  • Chong, Dennis. “How People Think, Reason, and Feel about Rights and Liberties.” American Journal of Political Science 37 (1993): 867-99.
    Listed reading
  • Fiorina, Morris. Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America . New York, NY: Longman, 2004. ISBN: 9780321317735.
    Listed reading
  • Iyengar, Shanto, Mark Peters, and Donald R. Kinder. “Experimental demonstration of the not-so-minimal consequences of television news programs.” American Political Science Review 76 (1982): 848-858.
    Listed reading
  • Gilens, Martin. Why Americans Hate Welfare . Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2000, chapters 5 and 6. ISBN: 9780226293653.
    Listed reading
  • Pollock III, Philip H. “Issues, Values, and Critical Moments: Did ‘Magic’ Johnson Transform Public Opinion on AIDS?” American Journal of Political Science 38, no. 2 (May 1994): 426-446.
    Listed reading
  • Druckman, James. “The Implications of Framing Effects for Citizen Competence.” Political Behavior 23 (2001): 225-256.
    Listed reading
  • Stimson, James A. Tides of Consent: How Public Opinion Shapes American Politics . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004, pp. 1-82. ISBN: 9780521601177.
    Listed reading
  • Bartels, Larry M. “Uninformed Votes: Information Effects in Presidential Elections.” American Journal of Political Science 40 (1996): 194-230.
    Listed reading
  • Page, Benjamin I., and Robert Y. Shapiro. “Effects of Public Opinion on Policy.” American Political Science Review 77 (1983): 175-190.
    Listed reading
  • Stimson James A., Michael B. MacKuen, and Robert S. Erikson. “Dynamic Representation.” American Political Science Review 89 (1995): 543-565.
    Listed reading
  • Bartels, Larry M. “Homer Gets a Tax Cut: Inequality and Public Policy in the Public Mind.” Perspectives on Politics 3, no. 0101 (2005): 15-31.
    Listed reading
  • Zaller, John. “Coming to Grips with V. O. Key’s Concept of Latent Opinion.” In Electoral Democracy . Edited by Michael MacKuen and George Rabinowitz. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2003. ISBN: 9780472068203.
    Listed reading
  • Mueller, John. “Trends in Popular Support for the Wars in Korea and Vietnam.” American Political Science Review 65 (1971): 358-75.
    Listed reading
  • Feaver, Peter D., Chris Gelpi, and Jason Reifler. “Success Matters: Casualty Sensitivity and the War in Iraq.” International Security 30, no. 3 (Winter 2005-06): 7-46.
    Listed reading
  • Berinsky, Adam, and James Druckman. “Public Opinion Research, Presidential Rhetoric, and Support for the Iraq War.” Public Opinion Quarterly (2007). Forthcoming.
    Listed reading
  • Berinsky, Adam. “Assuming the Costs of War: Events, Elites, and the American Public.” Journal of Politics (2007). Forthcoming.
    Listed reading
  • Kull, Steven, Clay Ramsey, and Evin Lewis. “Misperceptions, the Media, and the Iraq War.” Political Science Quarterly 118, no. 4 (2003): 569-598.
    Listed reading
  • Verba, Sidney. “The Citizen as Respondent: Sample Surveys and American Democracy.” American Political Science Review 90 (1996): 1-7.
    Listed reading
  • Berelson, Bernard. “Democratic Theory and Public Opinion.” Public Opinion Quarterly 16, no. 3 (1950): 313-330.
    Listed reading
  • Zaller, John. The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1992, chapter 12. ISBN: 9780521407861.
    Listed reading
  • Berinsky, Adam. Silent Voices: Public Opinion and Political Representation in America . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005, conclusion. ISBN: 9780691123783.
    Listed reading

Prerequisites & course information

Prereq: None U (Fall) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units. HASS-S

Sources